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Progression/Level Design
Apocalypse Silk Road Progression Design/Level design It is assumed that the player has completed the main quest line that will bring them to the port of Hong Kong. This zone is a starting zone for new players so quest lines and objectives will be inane in the rest of the game world outside this map. Map is split into 18 segments with 3 zones. These segments will be in place to create different types of content opportunities for the player. The three major zones of the map will be the City port (Tsim Sha Tsui), the slums (Hong Kong Island) and the body of water separating them (Sheung Wan to Cayseway Bay). The progression of the player will be controlled partly through level design, the map will have two different narrow sections that they will have to pass through in order to get through from the City zone to the Slum zone. To ensure that the progression for the player is rewarding the map being split into three zones will change the type of gameplay they will be experiencing. Creating a flow in the map allows for the player to feel like they are progressing, exploring and experiencing new content despite being in the same map. This will convey a feeling adventure and development as a character in the world. They will start on the top right of the map in the new trade port of Hong Kong city. This part of the city is the closest part to the slum zone. In this area there are much more guards around along with the design of the architecture being considerably more fortified. This small change will allow for the player to feel like they have moved on into a different story segment. In segments 1, 2 and 3 there are two ports and a trade quarter. In segments 4, 5 and 6 there is a lot check points and military operations on. In segment 7 there is a hidden area, which contains a hidden water shrine, for the player to discover. This is set near the port fortress in segment 5. This is so that the player has many opportunities in order to discover this hidden area should they decide to venture off the main path. In segment 8 there is the control points in order to let people in and out of the slum zone. The player will be led this way through the main quest chain. It is here they will be given the next stage of this and will make them move on into the next part of the quest chain. In segment 9 the player will get one of the first experiences of the slum zone. The area will be extremely run down and this will be the nicest part of the slum zone being the closest to the city. In this area the player will experience combat based quests and various aggressive non-player controlled characters. In segment 10 the flow of the level will direct the player towards a rundown fort. In this area the guards try to manage the level of crime inside the slums. From here the player is given quests around this area to progress. They will complete various minor quests for the guards in the fort till they trust the player further. They will then send them on a more serious quest that they have been getting intelligence about. In segment 11 the players will venture into an area with many more aggressive non-player controlled characters. This zone houses a minor gang of bandits which have been working to steal supplies going in and out of the slum zone. This segment will challenge the player’s experience of the game so far in both combat and in puzzle solving. In segment 12, 13 and 14 the player will begin to find aggressive non-player controlled characters (NPC) that are at a higher level and will challenge their new more honed experience of the game and their class. In these segments there will be events that can trigger randomly or should a player hand in a specific side quest that would start this event. In segment 12 the events will be based around minor crime and unhappy mobs. In segment 13 the events will be based more around aquatic creatures coming out of the sea and having to stop them. Along with a quest line that teaches the player about the new creatures and why they exist. In segment 14 there will be more random events which will deal with illness and the spread of disease in the slums. This area will have different particle effects, ambient sounds and different design of NPCs in order to portray this to the player. Once the player completes the main quest line in this segment the area will clear of these differences and create a sense of importance through their impact on the world. In segment 15 the slums architecture will change once more. This area will resemble coral with sea plant life growing on the buildings. Depending on what time of the day the map is in this area can be fully submerged by the tide. In this segment the residence are people who have been “gifted” with the ability to breath underwater. It is learned through the story in this zone that the people in it did not gain their “gift” like the “The Gifted” have. They were experimented on by people who are in association with the “Devine Bureaucracy”. This will tie into later core quest lines. In segment 16 the player will discover that there is a group of freedom fighters who want to free themselves of the slums and leave the city. They do not believe the divine beings who arose are good and want to fight against them. They are smuggling small groups of woman and children through an underground pass way out into the sea and over to the ports of the city. In segment 17 the segment will be almost entirely underwater excluding some islands. Under the water in this section are many aquatic creatures that have been created through the resurfacing of the supernatural beings. Along to this are some people who live underwater using their “gifts” that were forced upon them while being experimented on. In segment 18 the area is closer to the open sea presenting much more dangers to the player. This will be a new challenge for the player as it will be their first time fighting much stronger underwater creatures since they last fought them in segment 17 should they have chosen to complete side quests or explore it. This will be the combative climax to the main quest line in this zone as the player has to help escort NPCs from the slums over to the city in order to escape.